Greetings. I’m Monsieur West, and I’m the IB French teacher here at Lincoln High School. So, you’ve clicked on this link to find out who I am, and I want to thank you for taking the time to get to know me. If you’re a parent, we may only meet at conferences and if you’re a student, I probably see you everyday. But, I want to take a minute or two to introduce myself and explain a bit about my history with French and my journey up to this school year.
I’m from New York originally, although my family moved to Colorado when I was five years old, so I consider myself a Coloradoan, although now I consider myself a Nebraskan. I went through public school in Loveland, Colorado where I took, in high school, all three languages that were offered by our school district: French, German and Spanish.
After high school, I took a break from education to do some other work including working in a pharmacy for about six years. After those six years, I decided it was time to return to finish my education. I started taking classes at a local Community College where I was introduced to a program that allows current college students (or recent graduates) to travel to France to teach English in a public school in France. I applied and was accepted for my first year in Jonzac, France (the most important city in France, as I tell my students). I spent one school year there, before being asked to do a second year at the same school. It was an honor to be able to do two years in a row in the same city, in the same school. There is a two-year limit on this program, and normally people are moved around between years. Luckily, I was not and am so happy to have been able to create and continue those friendships I made in Jonzac.
Upon returning to the states, I enrolled at the University of Northern Colorado to get my French and Secondary Education teaching degree, which I received three years later, after student teaching with my high school French teacher, Toni Theisen.
Prior to graduation, I was hired by Lincoln Public Schools for the 2011-12 school year, where I was a French teacher at Schoo Middle School and Lincoln North Star High School. It was in December of this school year that I began my Master of Science degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Western Governors University.
I moved each year trading one of my schools for another. Finally, in the 2013-14 school year, Park had the ability to make me full-time at one school, which meant no more traveling between school! I was elated. In 2015, Madame Graham-Rowe announced her retirement and I applied, interviewed and accepted the position at Lincoln High School. I’m very excited and happy to be a LINK! What an honor. Our school has so many amazing, talented and hard-working students and I’m honored to be part of the amazing International Baccalaureate Programme here at LHS!
Degree Information:
- Bachelor of Arts in Foreign Language (specialty in French and Secondary Education) from University of Northern Colorado – Greeley, Colorado. Graduated in 2011.
- Master of Science in Curriculum and Instruction from Western Governor’s University – Salt Lake City, Utah. Graduated in 2014.
If you have any questions, please feel free to let me know!
